Well, it happened again. I received this email from an author:
“I am planning to send the whole manuscript to another editor because the prior one failed in doing a proper job. If you have someone to recommend…”
I receive similar emails from authors almost every week. And, when I do, it’s always very disheartening. Why? Because those authors must pay someone else (a real professional) to edit their books all over again.
While hiring someone on the cheap might be tempting, don’t do it. There is no licensing authority for editors. Anybody in the world can slap up a website, and call him or herself an “editor.”
And, when someone pretends to have expertise they do not, selling services based on that non-existent expertise is a SCAM.
Editing is a skill that takes years of education and training. When someone spends that much time and effort perfecting a skill, they’re entitled to be paid respectable wages. And, they can afford to do so. Professional editors are extremely busy these days. Many folks who now work from home are pulling out old manuscripts, and polishing them for publication. Many established authors have started writing new books. The need for great editors has never been…greater.
If someone quotes you only a couple or few hundred bucks to “edit” your 200-page manuscript, run as fast as you can away from them. You’ll very likely be extremely disappointed in their work. Even worse, the absolute worst “editors” insert errors into manuscripts. That happened to me many years ago and my “editor” worked for a traditional publishing house! I was told she was fired after working on my book.
If you need a referral to an great editor who has been vetted, and who has an excellent track record, CLICK HERE.
Angela Hoy lives on a mountain in North Georgia. She is the publisher of WritersWeekly.com, the President and CEO of BookLocker.com and AbuzzPress, and the author of 24 books.
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Angela is the creator of the Original 24-Hour Short Story Contest!
Learn more here: https://24hourshortstorycontest.com/
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You should also be very careful of the person who converts your book so it can be published. I used the same person for almost 10 years. In my last book, she got half way through the job then decided that she wanted me to pull my credentials out of the book but leave hers in. I needed my credentials in my book because it helped sell it. When I refused to take my credentials out but leave hers in, she dropped the entire project. My suspicion was that my credentials, which grew more numerous each year, but hers did not, caused her to become jealous and terminate the project.